By Abdelaziz Askitou
Zaio, Morocco - On March 15, 2014, a group of nearly 95 girls lodging at Dar Taliba, administrative staff, and the Passport to Success program facilitators and participants attended the closing ceremony of the Passport to Success program, which was developed by the International Youth Foundation (IYF).
The program, which took place at Dar El Bir from November 11th, 2013, through February 14th, 2014, targeted 25 girls and was facilitated by Abdelaziz Askitou and Courtney Haueter with the help of their colleagues, Ahmed Lahmer and Mohammed Fdis.
The program has been very successful due to the substantial contributions of the Passport to Success facilitators and participants. The latter benefited from 35 sessions with special emphasis placed on personal competencies, problem solving and managing conflicts, and service learning.
The Passport to Success program facilitators attempted to help the participants achieve their main goal of developing skills and competencies to help them function productively in their daily lives and thus contribute to the development of their community. In addition, it was geared toward helping them achieve the following four main objectives:
1. Strengthening personal competencies, such as communication, self-confidence, decision-making, and goal setting.
2. Developing the participants’ skills in solving problems and managing conflicts.
3. Fostering the participants’ connection with their community through planning, implementing and evaluating a community-service project of their choice.
4. Instilling the positive attitudes and values of collaboration and cooperation among the 25 girls.
It should be mentioned that the Passport to Success program culminated in a successful community service project, in which the 25 participants actively engaged in selecting, planning, conducting, implementing, evaluating, and reflecting upon its meaning and its positive impacts in the community in which they live. The project focused on the rehabilitation of the garden adjacent to the boarding school, consisting of the decoration of the school’s walls with paintings sensitive to the protection of our environment and world peace, and the planting of trees and cleaning of the garden.
The attendees of the closing ceremony included the Dar Taliba administrative staff, members of local associations, girls lodging at Dar Taliba, the Passport to Success facilitators, and the 25 participants. The members expressed a great interest in the Passport to Success program and appreciated the richness, usefulness, and practicality of the workshops presented also in addition to the dedication and devotion of the facilitators during the three-month program.
The participants praised the fruitful work that was presented and showed their great satisfaction with the content of the program and the ways in which it was facilitated. They fulfilled an important aspect of service-based learning by reflecting on and presenting all aspects of their final project to their peers, members of the community, and younger students. Additionally, on behalf of the facilitators, Mr. Abdelaziz Askitou urged the participants to share the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they had developed during the program with their colleagues and friends. He also thanked all of the members who contributed in the success of the program.
Tributes were also paid to the U.S Peace Corps- Morocco team for their support and efforts on behalf of Moroccan youth. In this respect, special thanks went to Mrs. Rosemary Traore, Mrs. Fatima Akebly and Mr. Tariq Doukkali for all the time and efforts they invested to make the Passport to Success training in Rabat a successful experience and to Mrs. Nadia Guerch, the country director of the International Youth Foundation-Morocco, and her staff for their continuous efforts to improve the conditions and prospects of Moroccan youth. The event concluded with the distribution of certificates to the 25 participants.
